Untimely Death
by VanillaCookiesxD
Summary: Tadase is being chased down by a mysterious blue-hair boy whom Amu intends to stop, but what will happen if she falls for him?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yeah, I finally came around to write this idea I had poking around my head. I'm not sure how the rest of it will go, but as time goes by we'll see...:D **

She saw it. Saw his death. It occurred late in the evening as he was roaming through the dark, wet streets where hardly anyone past by. Droplets fell from the sky and pelted fiercely onto the ground. His sleek blonde hair dripped beads of water onto the floor as his chest was merely making any movements. He sighed and gazed on ahead with curious eyes and an eager expression on his face; it was just him and the rain, coexisting peacefully…when suddenly, somebody approached to him, assaulting from behind, the victim taking a full blow on the head and stunned which made him buckle onto the ground with knees impacting roughly. He groaned and clutched onto his head and winced in pain, taking a sideway glance, staring at the mysterious shadow whose eyes glinted a devious violet. The shadow broke into a crooked and mischievous smile then revealed a silver, shiny claw and without a word, swiped him directly at his back and dug deep into his flesh. The boy froze and fell forth. Oozing, red blood trickled and splattered all over the place.

"Tadase!" Amu gasped and bolted straight up in bed, horror written on her face, beads of sweat dripping on her forehead, cheeks burning, and she breathed heavily. Confusion and puzzlement raced through her brain as her vision gradually focused back into her dark bedroom; she then averted her eyes to the familiar clock which read in bright, red digits, 1:28 PM.

Slowly recovering, she had come to realize that it was a dream. Thank god, she thought then fell back to bed, blinking and brooding about the dream. What was it admonishing? Could it possibly be a premonition? Whatever it was, it was definitely an unpleasant sight. Who was that guy trying to kill Tadase? Why? She had so many questions in mind. She didn't understand. Then she reminded herself that it was only a dream and closed her eyes, soon sleeping soundly for the rest of the night.

XXXXXXXXXXX

She walked to school, perturbed and worried about the horrific dream she had last night. It was the strangest dream she's ever had in her lifetime even though she had just joined the guardians in helping search for the embryo. Whoever that guy was in the dream seemed to want to kill him desperately…but she wasn't clear on why. She frowned slightly, wondering if she will get her answers sometime in the near future.

She approached the Royal Tea Garden where they all gathered around and Tadase announced happily, "We're going to be holding our annual festival at school!"

The annual festival usually consisted of fun activities that the students in school enjoyed and it was a way of celebrating the end of the school year which was nearing as time is passing by. They are going to be seniors in high school next year, how exciting.

"So," Tadase broached. "What do games or activities do you guys suggest on having this year?"

"Nothing lame for sure," Rima commented quietly and scribbled something hastily into her notepad.

"What do you consider lame?" Naghiko asked curiously, meeting Rima's gaze, who quickly tore off and looked elsewhere, saying, "I want to play jokes on people."

"That's Rima," Amu laughed lightly, and then said suggestively, "How about a fun house or a maze where jokes are played by Rima? It could be managed by you!"

The air was soon filled with chatter and shouts from each member screaming ideas and whatnot to make their year memorable at the festival. Who doesn't want a fun year? Even Amu needed some fun out of her duty.

After they spent a good amount of time deciding and finalizing the ideas with the group, they dismissed themselves from the campus, each of the members heading on their way home.

Amu couldn't help smiling at herself as she thought back at what exciting and interesting ideas they had planned for the school festival. There was racing, sporting, a pool party, and an endless list of activities for everyone to enjoy.

She wished the school year would come to an end, but then again she didn't want to be any older.

"Hinamori!" a gentle voice shouted from behind and her heart stopped for a split second because it was no other, her prince.

She froze in her tracks, stunned, by what to do. Should she wait for him or just slow down so that he could catch up? Or should she…

Before she could decide between the multiple choices she had, Tadase ran up to walk beside her, looking cheery as usual not to mention handsome and dazzling to her eyes.

Amu smiled pleasantly at him, but it faded quickly by the vision she had last night. The poor boy was being hunted down for who knows what reason.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, looking softly into her eyes as she avoided the contact, twitching her lip to the side.

"It's nothing," she simply answered then added, "I just can't believe the year is going by so fast. I mean, we're going to be seniors next year."

What she said was partially true. She didn't want to tell him about the dream she had of him last night. _It was only a dream_, she would constantly remind herself, trying to shrug the awful thought off.

"Yeah," he agreed then beamed proudly, "But I want to grow up and become king."

"I'm pretty sure you will become king," Amu supported him, patting lightly on the back as an encouraging gesture.

"But Hinamori," he said quietly and sounded hesitant, narrowing his gaze to the ground.

Why did he sound so serious all of a sudden?

"What is it?" Amu asked, nervous to know what he's about to say to her. Half of her wanted to know what intends to say and the other wants to just run.

"I don't want to become king without you," he uttered softly, embarrassed by what he had just said for he had a crimson shade decorating his cheeks.

Amu, shocked and startled, didn't know what to say except for a few croaks that managed to escape her mouth. When she composed herself, she waved her arms wildly and rapidly besides her, saying defensively, "But I have my own dreams to catch! I would love to be the queen of the world; however, it's not something I want to pursue right now."

"Besides, why are you behaving so lowly?" Amu studied him steadily.

He sighed and said, "Sometimes, I just think I'm kidding myself. You know? I mean a young adult like me? Become king? I don't know if that's even possible. My parents just tell me to dream on."

Amu protested, "Tadase! How could you let them think that way? Anything is possible! Just believe! All right? I have faith in you."

His spirit lighten as his face brighten into a beautiful face, he sudden grew confident and shouted, "You're right!" He threw his fist into the air. "I must believe in myself! Thanks Hinamori!"

In exchange for his pride, she returned a smile, and that's how the rest of the walk home went. They talked about dreams as well as the school festival and their opinions about it.

When she dropped and waved Tadase good-bye, she continued along the empty streets, where the sun was beginning to turn orange and sink behind the horizon line. The sky grew pink and had purple clouds floating above. It was a beautiful day.

She spotted her house a few blocks ahead and grew delighted at the sight. She couldn't wait for everything to return normal…especially her dreams to return normal.

Down the path, she crossed pathways with a blue-hair boy whose violet eyes settled onto the pink-hair girl, not taking his eyes off her as they passed each other.

A chill ran down her spine as she passed him. She hastily sped up and went home, walking into the warm house.

She hollered out loud to her mother, "I'm home!"

Then she made a mad dash up the stairs, slamming the door shut behind her, panting.

That boy…she thought.

His eyes, the hair…it matches to the boy in my dream who killed Tadase.

Exactly, who is he?

She had more questions than before running through her mind.

Her hands crazed her hair as she thought deeply, and then hoped that tomorrow she'd see him again to learn his intentions.

**Review guys! They help me a lot. Whether it's something good or bad, I still need to know :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you to those who reviewed :]. I finally got around to type this chapter up...if anything is out of place or whatnot just tell me. Some constructive criticism would be nice :D. Don't forget to review!**

She was eating her breakfast when the television screened over to breaking news. Seiyo Academy was under attack by terrorists and the background was filled with screams of horror and fear as people skedaddled to the exit of the school, panic written all over their faces.

"My, what's going on in school?" Amu's mother gasped and covered her mouth with agitation and fright; her eyes watched worriedly at the screen.

"A bomb attack by a mysterious enemy, I'm going," Amu answered and stood up from her seat then grabbed her black jacket to prepare to leave.

"No! You can't go! It's too dangerous!" her mother shouted and seized the wrist of Amu.

"But…" her honey-yellow eyes downcast to the wooden floor, "I can't leave my friends…"

"I know your friends are important, but Amu! Really, this isn't the time to play super hero," her mother said. She was right, but Amu didn't care. She wasn't going to let the school take any further damage.

"I'm sorry mother," Amu apologized as her eyes suddenly grew icy cold. Her mother's eyes then turned blank and bare as her grip on Amu loosens. Amu took this chance to make a run for the door and speed down the road with all her might.

Amu was born with a mysterious power to foresee events and manipulate people's mind; she actually grew up with her foster parents and never knew who her biological parents were.

She's been seeing inevitable events since the age of five but it was hard to determine whether her dreams are foresights or just a dream. She's also capable of physical fighting.

Swimming tears coated the surface of her eyes but with a quick swipe, she managed to dry them.

She felt reluctant to manipulate her mother but for the sake of her pupils, she did what she had to.

Once she arrived to school, she saw gray smog vanish into thin air and the school was burning; cracks surfaced on to the walls as they colored black. Bits of the building fell down. The fire was spreading quickly.

"Oh no! Someone seems to be missing!" a girl exclaimed.

"It's one of the guardians," a girl said worriedly.

Amu averted her attention to the throng of students outside the school entrance. She noticed that Naghiko and Yaya were there busily trying to appease the student's fear and panic; their lips were moving quickly. Kukai and Rima were out of sight, where could they be? She raised her head high to search for their faces. She didn't see them, but learned who was missing when Sayori squealed in the crowd. Yaya's eye caught Amu's gaze.

"Oh my! Prince Tadase is missing!" Sayori screamed ear-piercingly with her hands clasped to her face and fainted at the process, but her clique caught her.

"Amu, you came!" Yaya shouted as she ran over to Amu.

"Perfect timing," Naghiko said from behind. "You could help us calm down these panicky students."

"I…" Amu paused. She didn't want to placate their fears at this time; for some reason, she needed to save him. She had an intuition that lurking threat remained on school grounds. Who knows what could be happening at this time?

"I'm sorry guys, but I'm going in to get him out," Amu weaved through the yelling students.

"Amu! Wait! You have no idea how dangerous it is in there!" Naghiko attempted to reach for her, but missed the strawberry-hair girl by mere inches.

Her vision showed her the faces written with confusion and terror as she wedged through many bodies and managed to enter the burning school where she stared straight ahead. The premise may be dangerous now, but she continued on with her hand covering her mouth from the irritating smog and coughed a few times as she rushed into the building, eyes searching quickly.

Through the foggy smog, her eyes only showed piles of debris and more piles. It looked impossible but she had to try as she started to remove debris from the stacking piles. Even though the building was starting to fall apart, she still searched.

A loud coughing sound rang into her ears, which perked at the sound for her eyes focused onto the debris to her far left where she carefully made her way to and started rummaging and throwing the pieces from the stack.

Parts of the ceiling collapsed onto the ground as beads of sweat dripped from her forehead being that it was heated there and she heard the faint gasps of Tadase.

She looked around and continued picking out the debris. "I can't let him die yet," she muttered.

"Leave him there, he doesn't deserve to live," a low, mocking voice said.

She jerked at the voice and turned her head around to meet azure eyes that held great evilness; they sparkled mischievously.

It was that boy whom she passed yesterday on her way home, and the boy who could possibly be Tadase's murderer.

She narrowed her gaze on him and asked demandingly, "Who are you?"

"That's none of your concern," he approached to her lightly, giving a smirk as he said, "You know someone as cute as you shouldn't be getting themselves dirtied by this utter mess." He touched a strand of her delicate hair and she snapped back, alert as ever, shouting angrily, "I don't care! You have no rights to tell me what to do!"

"Oh…a naughty one, I like those," he smiled lazily, but she threw him an unexpected kick, hurling him to the side of the wall where it cracked as he slumped to the ground.

"A fighter too," he said impressively and wiped the blood dribbling out of his mouth.

She ignored him and went back to digging out for the body, hoping that he'd survived up to this point.

Suddenly, she was crying because there laid spine to the ground was Tadase, scarred and marred by the debris of the building.

"Tadase!" she shouted with hurt in her voice as she shook him gently.

"Hmph, looks like he's loss blood, but not enough," the blue hair boy remarked, and she heard a metallic weapon cling to the open.

She whirled her head to face him and saw cat-like claws, sharp and shiny as he endeavored to get a good swipe at Tadase's injured body; his breaths were shallow, gasping for air when he was allowed the chance to.

"No!" Amu stretched her arms out in front of Tadase in attempt to protect him. Honey eyes glowered at the mysterious killer, "I won't let you kill him. By all means, you must get through me first."

"Very well," he accepted the challenge, "once you're out of the way, it makes my job a lot easier being that he's in a weak state."

After saying that, he lunged forth to attack her upper body, but she flipped back in time to avoid the hit. Nimbly landing, she took this chance to send a flying kick as she leapt into the air, but he blocked each kick skillfully with his arms of steel.

"Damn," she cursed under her breath as she landed onto the ground, huffing.

"Nice try, but not competent enough for me," he said suddenly from behind and slashed onto her back, ensuing a blow which caused Amu to scream in pain as she spew mouthfuls of blood which scattered on to the ground and painted the walls.

But she wasn't going to let him defeat her that easily. Clutching onto her chest, she regained her concentration then her eyes glowed again, turning icy. The shadow on the wall moved swiftly for it was climbing up to the top where he was going to dive down to attack. She averted her gaze to him as he flew down to do an aerial attack.

A powerful force stimulated between them for an aura was created to barrier Amu and Tadase from his fatal attack.

Strong winds picked up and Amu's hair flew messily as she screamed eerily, causing a blinding light to flash.

The enemy bounced back and nimbly landed on top of a stack of rubble, hurt from the mysterious attack.

He clutched onto his wound and said between the gasps of breaths, a smirk crossed his face, "A strong opponent, I must say…but what exactly are you? Your eyes…"

Her eyes faded back to yellow as she said, "And that doesn't concern you."

Sounds of shouting abruptly neared being that her friends were calling for her.

"Amu! If you can hear me! You better answer!"

"You better be alive or I'll never forgive you!" Probably Yaya, Amu noted.

A simpering smile met her lips as her friends hollered worriedly for her.

"Amu huh?" I'll keep that in mind, until next time," the mysterious man uttered then quickly disappeared.

"Amu!" Yaya came up to her and flapped her arms wildly. "Why didn't you say anything? You scared us to death!"

Amu's gaze fell onto the delicate blonde hair boy. "Tadase…he needs to go to the hospital, now."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

At the hospital where they hurried Tadase over to the emergency room, the doctors and nurses quickly scanned over him and checked for any permanent damages.

Yaya, Naghiko, and Amu waited patiently in the waiting room; they called the other members up.

"Do you think he'll be fine?" Yaya asked anxiously, her eyes were growing watery and Amu bit her lip, afraid to even response.

"He'll be fine, I'm sure the docs know what they're doing," Naghiko tried to assure Yaya's anxiety.

Then a doctor walked into the room with a clipboard in hand, his gray hair showed that he's been through much stress since his skin still had a nice, smooth surface to it. He forced a smile on and said, "You're friend will be all right, he just needs some resting."

"Can we go see him now?" Yaya jumped out of her chair and rushed over to the doctor; she flaunted her big eyes at him.

"Yeah, sure go ahead," he gestured to the room next to them, and the gang hurriedly slipped inside.

Settled onto the gurney, Tadase was wrapped in bandages and an IV was attached onto his arms as his breathing level started steadying again.

"He seems to be all right," Naghiko raised an eyebrow and checked his heart rate on the machine.

"Yeah, I suppose," Amu sighed, sad that he had to suffer so much.

"Yo guys, I got your phone call. How is our dear friend, Tadase?" Kukai strolled in coolly and his expression stiffened at the sight of the sleeping boy, patched with bandages and unpleasant slits.

"Ouch," he commented with pain etched on his face.

"I knew we shouldn't have left him there," Yaya muttered as she crossed her arms, a pout formed on her lips.

"Well, he insisted on staying at the time. His face showed a sign of anxiety and disturbance," Naghiko said lightly. "He's a stubborn boy too."

"So, who will be gathering our meetings now that Tadase is injured?" Amu asked, eyes flickering back between Kukai and Yaya.

"Um…we can decide as a group later on," Kukai suggested and darted his gaze to Yaya and Naghiko to see if they had a better proposition.

"Uhh…" Yaya shot a nervous glance at Kukai while drumming her fingers on her arm. "I agree with Kukai!" she pointed, looking at him sheepishly.

Amu acquiesced and quickly excused herself to the restroom where she turned on the faucet to splash handfuls of cold water onto her face.

It felt quite refreshing to her as she watched her reflection blink blankly. Then she dried herself with a paper towel. Her brain was jumbled in thought for a sudden flash struck temporarily into mind while the guardians were exchanging words.

Her vision changed again. It turned out that the dream was a false alarm since Tadase's actual death occurs after he's discharged from the hospital.

She shivered at thought of a defenseless and innocent boy.

"Maybe I should ask him about that boy," Amu mumbled to herself as she exited the bathroom.

Once she returned to the room, she found the Rima, the missing guardian, waiting patiently, and they turned their heads to see that Amu has stepped into the room.

"About time," Rima commented bitterly as her cold gaze sent chills into Amu's spine.

"Now Rima, we've got to learn to be patient with others," Naghiko reminded her.

"Don't worry, I'm not offended," Amu said defensively and ignored Rima's rude remark.

"Anyway, while you were gone, we all unanimously voted for Kukai to become the substitute for now since he's had some experience," Naghiko informed Amu who nodded slightly.

"I guess, it'll work out," Amu said mindfully.

"All right! That concludes the meeting; I have to go now!" Kukai exclaimed and ushered out of the room with the other eager guardians trailing after him.

Amu stayed behind and pulled a chair next to Tadase's bed, studying him carefully.

They've grown up together for quite some time now. Seven years. She still remembered how she met him in school. He was charming and she accidentally embarrassed herself in a meeting the class had, but that was back then when her feelings for him wavered through a rollercoaster; she only considered him as a close friend now, not a lover.

"Who would want to kill an innocent boy like you?" Amu reached over to touch his gentle face. It was a soft contact and she flinched at the touch as if something shocked her.

"Only he would. He's coming back for revenge," an exhausted voice mumbled and Amu jerked at the sound.

Tadase slowly fluttered his ruby eyes open as a faint smile formed on his lips.

"Tadase…" her voice trailed off and she retracted her hand away from his face.

She was confused. What was Tadase talking about? A boy, like him, killed someone? Impossible.

"Revenge for what? What did you do to that boy?"

"I killed his sister," Tadase sighed and avoided Amu's shock gaze as she brought a hand to her quivering lip.

She stuttered, "Y-you what?"

"It was an accident…I swear if only I had been stronger at the time and not let her plunge into the depths of the ocean, this would have never happened," Tadase explained, his voice filled with morose and lament.

"Tadase…"

"That's why I vowed myself to become King," his hand seized her arm and squeezed it gently.

"Will you become my lover?" an unexpected question left his mouth.

Everything went too quickly for her. Her vision blurred; the world was spinning. Just a second ago, he was on the edge of death and now he's asking her to become his lover, she couldn't put these pieces together into her mind; a pounding ache soon throbbed in her mind.

_His death is inevitable. It's predestined; irrevocable, you can't possibly save him._

_Flashes of his death crossed repeatedly through her mind. He screamed and died beautifully by the avenger._

"_No…I must save him," her mind spoke._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Another chapter...here we go. Thank you for the reviews :D. I accept any type of review. **

She found herself sprawled on the ground, tears streaming from her eyes whilst she was with frustration and confusion.

"Hinamori," Tadase said beside her and blinked worriedly at her. "Are you all right?" His gentle touch reached for her, but she flinched and scooted away from him. She didn't know what was wrong with her; all she knew was that she suddenly felt afraid. The feeling was indescribable, as if she sensed an impending doom coming upon someone very soon.

_Bound to happen._

Those words wouldn't stop running through her head. They repeated in her mind in an echoingly manner, and she grew exhausted over time that she cried some more, clasping onto her head, she scrambled out of the room, saying in between her sobs, "I-I'm sorry Tadase. I can't!"

Amu couldn't face him anymore; she couldn't bear looking into those innocent eyes of his. She wanted to deny his predestined fate, but it was already sealed.

While many questions whirled madly in her mind, she couldn't bring herself to even ask; not now. Her main focus was running out of the hospital, away from him.

She heard faint shouts belonging to the voice of Tadase, and sped up, bolting to the exit of the hospital.

Outside of the hospital, a gentle breeze blew, and she was finally able to cool off—her emotions were leveled again. The nice chill was a cure to all insanity that surged through her.

It was a horrible yet beautiful death. The blue-hair boy killed him with his claws then scattered petals of white roses on top of him…

"Is there any way to save him?" her lips merely moved as strands of pink hair brushed softly against her skin. Her mind thought and searched for answers, but came to no conclusion.

Walking through the empty streets of the city, she past by a blonde hair girl with long pigtails who had a pair of shade slipped on as a gang of men dressed in black chased after her.

The men jostled Amu, yelling furiously, "Hey! Get back here you brat!"

The girl ignored them and darted to the right corner of the street; Amu stumbled back a bit and blinked her eyes a few times. She bit her lip and wondered if she should follow them; without hesitation, her feet began to run in the pathway that the black men took.

The sky was turning light pink and orangey as the sun seemingly began to sink behind the horizon. What would a group of men want from the innocent girl? Although, she did appear mysterious with those shades on, she couldn't have done anything wrong unless that girl owed something. Maybe, they are loan sharks.

Amu continued pacing after them then when she was close enough, she leapt up mid-air and threw a powerful kick through the group of men.

They all shouted and screamed, falling towards the ground, they cried in pain. "Looks like she's got an ally," a man noted as he lowered his glasses to see more clearly, the pink-headed girl.

A few grunts of approval sounded as they clumsily rise to their feet to fight against Amu.

"It's five against one, what have we got to lose?" the man sounded boastful, but Amu narrowed her eyes at them, saying sullenly, "We'll see about that."

She dashed up to them and took each of the men down one by one with a few kicks and punches; however, some appeared to be tougher than they looked.

Sure, a few of the men fell back to the ground and groaned some more, but some were yanking at Amu's hair, throwing her roughly at the ground where she yelped in pain.

"What did I tell you?" the man asked, surrounding Amu, who was propping herself with her elbows. "You can't possibly win." He picked her up harshly and used a fist to hit under her chin; a spew of blood flew from her mouth.

Suddenly, someone from behind assaulted them with a purse. Whack, whack, the heavy purse hit them hardly, causing an injurious wound on the head as the person quickly seized some wrists to twist. A grimace formed the men's faces; painful cries escaped from their mouths.

"What the hell?" some cursed and looked around for the person who dared attack them.

"If you've got business, don't get others involved in this," the blonde hair girl swung a kick at the leader of the gang and he immediately fainted from exhaustion.

The men grew scared and scattered around the boss, shaking him steadily, telling him wake up, but he never did, so they glowered at the girl and Amu, threatened them that they'll be back and next time, they wouldn't get away.

"Until next time Utau," one of them snarled and limped in the opposite direction.

Amu growled as they made their getaway, but then fixated her attention to the beautiful, young girl that held the most captivating violet eyes.

"Your name is Utau?" Amu raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Yes, and thank you for helping me back there," Utau said, although, she didn't look her way and had a straight face plastered. The gratitude towards Amu didn't sound sincere.

Amu smiled lightly and said, "It's nothing." She painfully got up to her feet and smudged the blood on her face with her hand. "Why were those people chasing you?" Amu asked.

"They wanted information for selfish reasons," Utau replied, eyes narrowed.

"About what?" Amu further inquired.

Utatu threw a cold glance that sent chills down Amu's spine. "It's personal," she hissed.

"Well, all right then I won't pry anymore then," Amu said defensively, raising her hands beside her.

Without another word, Utau swiveled on her heel and started to stalk away from her as if she had an important mission to tend.

Amu stood there until the last inch of her body was no longer in view. She wondered what was wrong with the girl, and definitely didn't like how Utau treated her after she risked her life to keep her away from danger. "Some grateful person you are," Amu mumbled.

Amu was a fighter, but that didn't mean she was invincible all the time. She still had training to do, and in the current state she was in, she isn't in the position to fight anymore. She also didn't want her mother to find out that she's been around town fighting either yet her mother was probably wondering where she is.

Sighing, she reluctantly decided that it was time for her to go home where her mother started reprimanding her. "Amu! I told you not to go! What ever happened to listening to your elders? I'm your mother and if I say you can't go, then it's no."

Amu stared at the floor and listened to her mother scolding and then her mother gasped in astonishment. "Oh my god! Amu, what happened to your face and your arm?" She inspected her carefully, examining the bruises and heavy blows she took. "Have you been fighting?" Mother raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's nothing," she snatched back her wrist and waved off the subject. "Amu! You can't expect me to believe that, get back here!" But it was too late; Amu was already climbing up the stairs to the bathroom.

In the shower, she contemplated and tried to cleanse herself the best she could, trying to make the wound appear invisible, but she knew some of it would probably linger around for a few more days. She couldn't organize her thoughts right now, nor could she face her mother. What was she supposed to say? Apologize? Would her mother accept a measly apology and expect a "sorry" would cover for everything that Amu has treated towards her mother?

Once she finished dressing, she bravely descended down the steps where her family had gathered around the table, eating dinner in silence.

She slipped in her seat and didn't say a word to either of her parents as they watched her, waiting for someone to break this buzzing stillness.

Amu's dad, Tsumugu, settled his fork down and said steadily, "Amu, how could you run off like that?"

She kept her mouth shut, but she was reflecting. There were secrets she had kept from her parents up till now yet she felt like she didn't need to explain to them. Secrets were secrets for a main reason.

This time, however, was different. It seemed like family bonding time again, even though; she has never really trusted her foster parents.

Exhaling a deep breath, she said quietly, "I'm sorry mom and dad, especially mom for running away like that. There are just some things out there that you guys wouldn't understand. My life is complicated as it already is." Or so it felt like to Amu; the foresight was already too much to handle.

"You have secrets? What kind of secrets honey? You can tell us." Tsumugu said calmly as he wrinkled his brow.

His fatherly words sounded so warm, that she wanted to tell them right away, and be free like a butterfly. However, she decided to sum up her thought into one sentence. "I don't have secrets…it's just that I was so afraid, afraid that my friends wouldn't be put to safety." It was partially true, but she felt that this wasn't the right time to tell them anything.

"Well, honey," her father's face softened and that relieved Amu. "Just don't go run off when mom says not to next time. Listen to her." He added a small smile to the advice.

Amu wasn't the kind of obedient and perfect kid at home, in fact, she was somewhere in between. At times, she acted like an angel and other times, her parents met up with the devil side of Amu.

Amu nodded at her father and smiled back; they finally started to eat dinner in peace and satisfaction.

_It_ _feels nice to be a part again._


End file.
